Michiel C. A. van Vliet, Isabel W. C. E. Arends and R. A. Sheldon
The well known methyltrioxorhenium-catalysed epoxidation of alkenes with aqueous H2O2 is significantly improved by conducting the epoxidation in trifluoroethanol; excellent reaction rates and yields can be obtained for a variety of (terminal) alkenes with only 0.1 mol% of catalyst.